Graham: How Trump’s 'eventual undoing' will play out

Donald Trump is “the almighty Oz” in the GOP presidential race right now, but “there’s really nothing behind the curtain,” rival Lindsey Graham told The Des Moines Register on Monday.

“I think the more he exposes himself, putting forward solutions that are unworkable, the charm begins to fade after a while when you realize there’s nothing behind the curtain,” Graham, a U.S. senator from South Carolina, told the Register in an interview at the Iowa State Fair.

Here are the factors that will be the eventual undoing for Trump, the front-runner among GOP likely caucusgoers, according to Graham, who sits at the bottom of the polls:

1. Trump’s immigration plan, which is “gibberish.”

“His immigration plan is complete gibberish,” Graham told the Register. “It’s unworkable. It makes no sense.”

Trump’s plan is “going to get zero Democratic support and almost no Republican support. So this will be his eventual undoing. ... Do you think Mexico is really going to pay for a wall? ... It’s not practical to drive 11 million people out. That’s not going to work.”

Graham said “nobody wants a felon or repeat law breaker” to remain in the country, but Trump’s plan “comes across as very harsh. They’re beginning to imprint us again, branding us as an anti-Hispanic party.”

2. Trump’s idea of taking over Iraq’s oil fields would start “World War III.”

“The idea of going to Iraq and taking over the oil fields is not a very good foreign policy move. I’ve never heard any generals suggest that’s a good idea,” said Graham, who noted he has been to Iraq and Afghanistan 35 times. “Do you realize what would happen if our country invaded another country and took their oil? We would make enemies for life. I would hate to be one of the soldiers deployed to Iraq to say, ‘Hey, we’re here to get your oil.’ That’s a good way “to start World War III.”

3. “Silly stuff.”“This is the kind of silly stuff that really does hurt our image in the world. It really does take us backward when we need to go forward.”

4. Social conservatives will begin to learn more about Trump.

“I think the values voter in Iowa will be troubled by Mr. Trump’s record,” Graham said. “At the end of the day, the more he becomes defined, you’ll see this bubble begin to air down a little bit. Some of the air will come out.”

5. Trump doesn’t connect with Hispanic voters and female voters.

“We have two problems: We’ve got a problem with Hispanics, and we’ve got a problem with women,” Graham said. “I think we’re digging a hole for both.

“If you listen to some of the things Mr. Trump’s said about (Fox News debate moderator) Megyn Kelly and others, we’re really, I think, hurting ourselves early on with our two biggest challenges. Mr. Trump, I think, would have a hard time carrying the banner successfully. And contrary to what he says I don’t think he’s being beloved by Hispanics right now.”

6. He's too polarizing.

“What’s wrong with Washington is that we don’t do enough together,” Graham said. “And the people that are frustrated are more ideological — frustrated that they can’t have everything they want. How do you fix immigration without a Democrat and a Republican working together? How do you save Medicaid and Social Security without a bipartisan plan?

“The hope is that as the contest becomes closer to election days ... that those of us who have solutions that could actually work begin to rise.”